Regina,
If Patrick realizes what we found, he will come after the contract first.
Do not surrender the company to make yourself feel less guilty.
That is what he expects.
Finish this, but do not do it alone again.
Regina read the final line twice.
Then she covered her mouth and cried without turning on a faucet to hide the sound.
I wanted to hold her.
I did not.
Not yet.
At eight the next morning, the Albright board assembled in the same glass conference room where Regina had first offered me $100,000.
Patrick sat at the head of the table beside Martin Cale.
Their mother, Celeste, occupied a chair near the windows, wearing pearls and the expression of someone attending an unpleasant but necessary funeral.
Arthur arrived in his wheelchair with a nurse.
Regina wore a white suit.
Her face was pale, but her shoulders were straight.
I walked beside her carrying the red envelope.
Patrick looked at my bruised cheek and smiled.
“Still on the payroll?”
“For another few hours,” I said.
Cale began the meeting by presenting medical reports concerning Regina’s arrhythmia.
He argued that she had concealed a condition that could impair her judgment and asked the board to suspend her authority immediately.
Then he produced our marriage contract.
“Furthermore,” he said, “the marriage qualifying Ms.
Albright under the family trust is fraudulent.
Mr.
Reed was paid to impersonate a spouse.”
Murmurs moved around the table.
Celeste looked at me as though I had tracked dirt onto her carpet.
“I warned you,” she told Regina.
“Charity always becomes expensive.”
Regina did not answer.
Patrick leaned back, enjoying the silence.
“Before the board votes,” I said, “I would like the trust attorney to define a legal marriage.”
Cale frowned.
“You have no standing here.”
“Actually, I do.
I am Regina’s lawful spouse, named in the trust documents you submitted.”
One of the independent directors adjusted his glasses.
“Answer the question, Mr.
Cale.
Does the trust require romance, or only a legally recognized marriage maintained for twelve months?”
Cale’s jaw tightened.
“A legal marriage.”
“Then whether Regina paid me is embarrassing, but irrelevant.”
Patrick tapped his ring against the table.
“You have been married less than six months.
The requirement has not been satisfied.”
“That depends on why the previous marriage ended,” Evelyn said from the doorway.
Every face turned.
She entered with a detective and two investigators from the district attorney’s financial crimes unit.
Patrick stood.
“This is a private meeting.”
Detective Elena Ruiz displayed a warrant.
“Not anymore.”
